Monday, December 26, 2011

Bad, Busy Blogger.

Hello, friends!

So... I've been a bad blogger. I know. And I'm sorry my postings are so irregular.

To fill you in on my life these past two months:

November:
Was a sleep-deprived blur that I honestly can't remember very well. What I do know now is that sleeping an average of 2.5 hours a night is very bad for you, and it does NOT do much for your memory.

To my knowledge, there weren't many incredibly notable events, but I know that it was rather stressful and I'm grateful to my wonderful friends who got me through it. I don't know where I'd be without them.

Oh, wait! The second movement of my piece was finished at some point during this month. It is entitled "Flamenco-ish."

December:

This month, I do remember a little better.

Finals were... Crazy. I got A's on all of them except for one (which, as a perfectionist, will probably nag at me for the rest of my college career, but oh well), and I got an A on my semester project (my piece. You know, the one I'd pretty much devoted my entire life to and lived in?)
But on finishing the piece...

"Three 'Span-ish' Dance-ish" was finally completely finished about 12 hours before it was due. The rollercoaster ride I went through while writing it was tremendous, as this was really my first full-length work. I've written single songs before plenty of times, sure, but I've never done a work that lasts about 11 minutes like this one does. It was definitely the biggest crowning moment of my musical career to date.
There were times, when writing it where I felt like I wanted to give up being a composer, because it is really freaking difficult. And there were plenty of times that I wanted to give up because I was convinced I wasn't good enough, where I'd have 2-week long writer's block, where I'd thought that I was hopeless and would never be able to finish a piece this large. But thanks to my wonderful friends, some fantastic professors, and an awesome lessons teacher, I was able to come to terms with me actually being sort of decent at this whole composing thing.

Now, after trying it for a semester (and I mean actually being a composer instead of someone who would occasionally write a song and scribble down the outline of it really quick most of the time because she was too lazy to notate anything...), I'm convinced beyond a doubt that if my life were perfect, I would be able to make a sustainable living doing this. However, since life isn't perfect and you need to be prepared for the worst... I'm still sticking with my Pre-Vet major, because there are a lot of other talented composers out there, too. However, I AM also minoring in Music Tech, which might actually get me some other types of jobs if this doesn't work out, so... We'll see. Ideally, I'll be able to keep all 3 of these things up, because I'll really be getting the most bang out of my buck from that Regents scholarship I worked my butt off through high school to get.

So now, I've got a complete work on my hands. The whole of it is entitled "Three 'Span-ish' Dance-ish." The first movement is named "Tango-ish," the second is called "Flamenco-ish", and the third is entitled "Paso Doble-ish."

Thank you to everyone who helped me survive the semester. I love you all, and you all know who you are. I really have the best kind of people in my life, and I'm eternally grateful to all of you.

With love,
Gilmore

P.S. Today's song of the day (I think this is becoming a trademark) is Stay or Leave by Dave Matthews Band. The Live at Radio City version with Tim Reynolds is my personal favorite, which you can look up on Spotify, or go to this YouTube link. (Be forwarned, I think it skips about 5 seconds in the middle from the YouTube version.)